


Valerian Nights

by RedSkyNight



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: (oops i referenced supernatural), BAMF (sometimes) Dipper, BillDip, He isn't mentioned at least, M/M, first story ever guys, grunkle Ford doesn't exist in this one?, i am shipper trash fight me, incubus!Bill, paranormal investigator/monster hunter!AU, tw: some blood/fire/violence, ugh i said i wouldn't but then i did, whoops this went a different route than i intended
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-02-20 01:21:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2409854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedSkyNight/pseuds/RedSkyNight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>**Rating is subject to change**<br/>The Valerian root has been used for centuries to help provide a short term cure for insomnia, but, it is also known for causing crippling night terrors and bad dreams. Quite like a certain demon we know. This is where our story begins...</p><p>Dipper Pines is a nationally acclaimed 'ghost hunter' who travels the continent, and more recently, the rest of the world, proving supernatural rumors incorrect and debunking old mysteries. After a special tour of Southeast Asia, Dipper goes back to his hometown to his sister, Mabel, who runs an old tourist trap, the Mystery Shack, with their great uncle. Upon arrival, Dipper learns that there have been some very supernatural killings happening in the town and surrounding area. Will Dipper be able to find the creature and balance life back home, new roommate notwithstanding?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a demon is waiting and Dipper is tired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UGH I hate it when I get ideas that put me in for the long haul. Yeah, this one's gonna be lengthy.  
> Paranormal investigator AU because I haven't seen that yet. BillDip because it's my new OTP~

_It got so tiring, the waiting. With every miserable second that passed all that he thought of was the future, what it would be like when he was aware again. It had been so long, and he yearned for the touch of a human, yearned to finally find a mate. The centuries had come and gone, and yet, here, awaiting to be unleashed, the nameless, faceless demon would wait for a millennia, as his form became human, and he was no longer a nameless, faceless being of shadows and dreams.... ___

"...And here we have the EMF meter, which will keep track of interferences of electrically charged objects within the electromagnetic field of whatever area it is placed in....." The young man seemed perfectly happy swamped among the cameras and electrical equipment, and, having used technology like it since he was a preteen, one could surmise that he should be. As he went down the list of a quick overview of the more common machines that would be used in his experiments, he was already thinking of what the so called 'supernatural being' could be. 

"So, today I'm in the Kanto region of Japan, my last stop on the list before I head back to the States. The homeowner Kiku Fujiwara has been experiencing some supernatural activity, mostly in the form of banging on the walls and a coldness in most of the rooms of the house." The shaggy-headed twenty-something was speaking into a camcorder, the footage of which he would upload to his site when the case was over with. Not that it would take a long time to solve, it was fairly open and shut, probably something completely average. With these thoughts fresh in his mind, the man started his walk around the house. 

The case was very much average, just a damaged foundation in an old house, where the pipes in the walls had come loose and were hitting the walls when the water was used. The coldness came from the faulty heating in the kitchen, and bedroom, far from the rest of the house, which the self-proclaimed 'ghost debunker' chalked up to a blockage in the air vents. As he explained his findings to the camcorder he signed off with his signature line: "Well, another mystery solved and pleasant hunting to the rest of you investigators, I'm Dipper Pines, and I'll see you all back in the States!" With that said, Dipper closed the camcorder and adjusted his hat. Asia had been fun, the people there took the supernatural to a whole 'nother level, but he missed his family and couldn't wait to go back to this sister' house to finish off vacation. 

Reaching for his phone, Dipper texted Mabel, his twin, the news. A few seconds had barely gone by before his phone blared out the lyrics to an BABBA song, and yes, it was perfectly acceptable to listen to a girly Nordic pop band as an adult male, stop judging him. Dipper braced himself, answering the phone, holding it a safe distance from his ear, as Mabel shouted happily from the other end. "Hey bro-bro~!" 

"Hi Mabel, so, I should be home by tomorrow afternoon, if everything goes right." Dipper skipped straight to business as he walked down the street towards a bus station. 

"Yay! Things were getting pretty interesting around here, we need you to make it boring again!" Dipper was about it complain about sisterly abuse, when Mabel squealed excitedly, before continuing on from her comment, "And by interesting, I mean, a random mansion appeared in the woods, and I mean, like, it just appeared there, and the teens are already saying it's haunted! All the tourists are asking if it's going to be a new thing for the Mystery Shack, but we, me and Grunkle Stan, I mean, want your opinion on it. We haven't been there yet, but I've seen it from the outside, it looks older than Stan, and that's saying something!" She laughed loudly, and Dipper sighed, he hadn't realized he had missed his twin that much. 

"And it just....appeared there? Like, no one else was around, no newcomers in town?" Dipper was skeptical about the whole thing, a house appearing out of nowhere? That was impossible, right? 

“Yeah! One day it was perfectly empty woods, the next, there was a three story mansion, isn’t that weird?!” Dipper was about to reply, when Mabel, apparently done with the talk of the supernatural occurrences that were oh-so-common in Gravity Falls, Oregon. “Oh! Dipper, Inari and Waddles are finally getting along!”

“Really?” The young man doubted that. Inari, Dipper’s ‘pet’ of sorts was a magical Japanese fox called a Kitsune, a mythological (or at least thought to be) creature known for it’s infinite wisdom. Inari, however, being a six-tailed Kitsune, was still a baby by magical standards. Dipper had come to possess the small bundle of purple fur when a particularly nasty spirit that had inhabited an old store of antiques and oddities, cursed a stuffed fox, and thus, Inari was born. Inari loved most of the creature he met, humans included, however, he absolutely hated Waddles, and no one could pinpoint why. Dipper found the hatred entertaining, but Mabel always tried her hardest to make them friends. “So, what makes you think that?”

“Inari isn’t being mean to Waddles, he’s just sitting there and letting Waddles lay all over him! Oh--Wait a second--” Dipper heard a muted conversation from the other end of the phone, and then Mabel was back on the line: “Sorry Dipper, the last tour group is here, I gotta go, talk to you later bro-bro!”

“Bye, Mabel.” As Dipper reached the bus ready to take him, to the nearest international airport, he glanced at his watch, only 10 AM and it already felt so late. This was going to be a long flight.  



	2. Chapter 1: A Rather Warm Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a dream gets pretty heated...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told ya I'd change the rating lol

Valerian Nights--A Rather Warm Welcome Home

When Dipper pushed open the door to the Mystery Shack, he hadn't expected to be tackled by an over joyous sister, a pig, and a baby fox-spirit. The young man hadn't thought that his twin would be awake, as the sun had not yet risen and Mabel usually didn't wake up until the sun was long into its daily journey across the sky. How she ram the Shack was probably the biggest mystery that could be found there. 

"Dipper!" The twenty-something screamed, nearly hugging her twin to death, "How was your flight?" 

Dipper sighed quietly, setting his bags down and rubbing his stubbled chin. "Its was alright, there was a toddler on the plane who did not want to be there though, so I couldn't really sleep." Be trudged further into the house and asked: "Did you wait up for me? You must be tired,"

"It's no biggie bro-bro, I'm only up 'cause a few kids in the town tried to spend the night at that weirdo house." She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, eyes bright beneath her obvious exhaustion.

Dipper looked at his clearly tired sister and realized it was three in the morning. "How about we talk about this at a more decent hour? We both need sleep and the Shack's closed on Sundays. We can talk then." After getting a nod of confirmation from his twin, Dipper braved the stairs to the attic, where his vacant cot awaited him. A tiredness settling deep in his bones, he fell asleep.

The music wasn't loud, a quiet murmur, above the noise of the fire crackling in the hearth. As he looked around, he noticed the odd human clothing he had unconsciously chosen for himself. It looked old, compared to humanity's newest styles, something that would have been seen in, roughly the Victorian era, his favorite time period. He observed the room, and decided it would do quite nicely for his plans. That is, if the humans would stay away long enough for him to put it into action. Not even a mile away, he felt a human drift to sleep. Deciding there was nothing better to do, the creature forced his way into his victim's dreaming subconscious. 

###### 

_He hadn't expected a nightmare._

_Fire was the thing the demon was greeted with. A large blaze surrounding a young looking boy and girl. The boy was staring in horror at two human shapes on the floor in front of him, face blank in a lifeless way. The girl was crying hysterically as the flames consumed what the demon assumed were the children's parents. He watched sadly as the hellfire closed in on the children. The sister fell first, and the boy was staring despondently at the encroaching firey doom. The flames licked around the boy, scorching his clothing and crying for his tender flesh. As this unfolded before his singular eye, the demon was urged with the compulsion to save the small, otherwise damned human. What kind of trauma had caused a dream like this?_

_His mind made up, the demon waltzed into the dream-flame, brushing it aside like only a creature of illusions could. Approaching the human, who was staring at the hellfire baying loudly for the flesh of its next victim, the demon realised that this was not the first time the boy had dreamt of his own pyre._

_"What ails you, child?" The question rang out loud and smooth, rising above the cacophony of the flames and the disturbing noise of melting human flesh. The child looked up, eyes hollow with a detached horror, looking but not truly seeing what was in front of him._

_The silence was deafening, despite the loudness surrounding them. When the demon was about to walk away and haunt someone else's mind, a voice materialised behind him "It won't answer you, it's just a memory-turned-nightmare." The demon spun around, surprised to find a man in his early twenties standing there. Nondescript in his features, a hat with a pine tree on it that was pulled low over his forehead, a budding gotee, the rest of his clothing was completely normal, a tank top and a pair of jeans. Just your average human. Nothing significant about the man was visible, except a triangular tattoo on his left shoulder, an extraordinarily complicated space design within it's three-sides confines. Humans and permanently marking their bodies. The demon wondered in mild amusement of the human knew that he had essentially gotten an incubus' summoning symbol carved into his flesh. He decided it would not be a good idea to ask,but filed it away for later. "Who are you? Why are you in my dreams? What do you want?" The man shot his rapid fire questions at the demon, who held his hands up, backing away slightly as not to threaten the kid._

_"Woah there, Pine Tree, oh, I can call you that, right?" The boy stayed silent, glaring at the wolf in sheep's clothing, so the demon continued on, "To answer your questions, the name's Bill Cipher, pleased to meet ya!" The demon held out a gloved hand to the strange boy, which he did not take, instead crossing his arms across his chest and giving a pointed look to the newly appointed Bill Cipher. "Oh wow you're a real stick in the mud, aren't you?! I was just wandering around the dreamscape, and I ended up in your selfconcious, whoops, I would say sorry but I'm not." The demon gave a dramatic frown, which quickly disappeared as he realised the flames had dissipated and the dream-boy was gone. "I see your nightmare is over, moved on to greener pastures, Pine Tree?"_

_"Don't call me Pine Tree, my name's Dipper!" The young man glared angrily at the demon, and the demon gave a condescending smile, staring oddly at the human._

_"So, I can call you Dipper, like the constellation, but I can't call you Pine Tree? And what kind of a name is Dipper anyways?" The demon noticed this 'Dipper' person had ignored his question about the firey dream and did not attempt to bring it up again, if the human wouldn't tell him, he'd just find out for himself later, no help from his new friend necessary._

_"It's just a nickname I've had since I was young, it just stuck around, I guess. Uh, so, what did you say you were again?" The human looked at him strangely, as if Bill were some mysterious picture that he was trying to figure out. This was a look the incubus was quite used to._

_"Ah, all things in time, Dipper dear, now I really hate to interrupt our chat, but your dream's about to end. Don't worry, I promise I'll come back!" As the demon began to fade away, he saw the powerful glare the human had thrown in his direction. "Ah, Pine Tree, just so you know, even in the dreamscape, looks can't kill. Unless you have laser eyes, which you don't. See ya around, kiddo!" And with a crackle of energy, the demon left just as quickly as he had appeared._

_Not even a second later, in dream time, Dipper was thrown back into reality._

###### 

He sat up with a sigh, looked over to his nightstand, where a digital clock was blinking at him, reading 10:39. The young man was surprised, because despite not sleeping on the plane, he had expected to have been up earlier due to his nightmares. Instead, all he remembered was a stranger with a golden eye, like nothing he'd ever seen. Brushing the dream to the side as his creative side of his brain taking over, he slid out of the bed, heading for he shower before any of the other residents of the house realised he was up. 

How strange that he felt so refreshed after having a dream he couldn't remember.


	3. Chapter 2: The Beast that Stalks the Pines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: RM DSRXS WRKKVI RH NZQLIOB OZGV ULI Z NVVGRMT DRGS GSV WVERO, ZMW GSV WVERO RH MLG KOVZHVW. ZOHL: Z MVD NLMHGVI RNRGZGVH GSV KSZMGLN LU GSV LKVIZ.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops please don't hate me this story isn't dead yet. ALSO: sorry not sorry for the supernatural references X3  
> no indenting because i have no patience. currently typing with a sprained wrist because this update couldn't wait that long. always remember that if you see any typos or grammar mistakes to let me know :)

### The Thing That Stalks the Pines

_The beast let out a sigh, as it silently moved through the dark woods, managing to be soundless even as the pine needles under his feet shifted. The small creature was lost, wandering alone in the recesses of the Oregon woodlands. The beast, having gotten over its melancholy, pounced on the squirming creature, emerging into the pale moonlight’s sad sight. He hated the small ones, he really, truly did. The way they screamed wasn't nearly as entertaining as the big ones._

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inari’s purple eyes were the first thing Dipper saw that morning, well, afternoon, seeing as the second thing Dipper saw in his dusty room in the attic was his clock, which read 12:17 PM. He must have fallen asleep again after that strange dream. His kitsune's eyes were glowing with amusement, something which made the paranormal investigator immediately suspicious. When Inari was excited, it was usually for a bad reason. For Dipper, that is. _Damn sadist,_ Dipper thought was he met the midnight furred magic fox god's mirthful eyes.

His worries were partly dispelled as the kitsune curled one of it's six tails around his body and dropped Dipper's phone on his chest. The worry came back in full force and then some when he realized that Luc (pronounced 'Luke' _NOT_ Luce. Ever.), one of his go-to contacts for information on ancient artifacts and supernatural lore, had called eight times in the past hour and a half. Groaning as a cold horror seeped into his form - and as he realized how royally pissed the good doctor was going to be at his lack of a prompt response - Dipper reluctantly got out of his warm, comfortable bed, and went about his (rather rushed) morning - afternoon now - routine.

Doctor Luc A. Morningstar was a professor of Demonology and the Hierarchy of Angels, and was known for his colossal lack of patience, that was something that had become clear in the four years Dipper had spent in the man's class. Many of the students had likened the testy teacher to the Devil himself. Dipper had his own suspicions about the man, but was wise enough not to voice them around the being himself, happy to have the help of an entity, even if the rest of the 'sane', 'normal' world was convinced said being was pure, unadulterated evil. 

At the present moment, though, Dipper wished the man didn't have a hair-trigger temper and the legions of darkness at his command (Dipper was sure of this, but, so far, the theory had been left unproven). He hurried down the stairs to where Mabel and Stan sat in the living room, crowded by all of the old man's stuff. They were watching a movie that Dipper had a strong feeling was The Princess Bride, not that his grunkle would ever admit to watching such a 'monstrosity', as he called it (or any other movie Mabel liked). He waved Mabel over, and with an exasperated, but loving sigh, the girl approached her brother with her usual 'Hey, bro-bro!'

"Morning - er actually - afternoon, Mabel, I'm sorry but I really have to run," Dipper let out an apprehensive noise, "I missed a shitload of calls from Luc, he's probably gonna kill me." The words were rushed as he was dialing the professor's number and tapping his foot on the wooden floor impatiently. 

Mabel winced in sympathy, having met the terrifying Luc Morningstar. Though she thought he was one of the hottest things to grace God's green Earth, the aura of power that surrounded said man never failed to scare the bejesus out of her. "Yeah, good luck with that, bro - he's totally going to murder you." She thought for a second, "And probably skin your body to make soup." Seeing her twin's slightly green face, she shrugged her shoulders, pushing her lime green sweater back up, "Just getting you prepared to meet your death." She smiled comically, "Have fun~!" 

Dipper had given up on trying to call the man, and had shot him a text as he rushed out the door, with Grunkle Stan yelling: "I hope you don't expect an expensive funeral!" Well, at least he had support. 

About five minutes after he had texted the professor, Luc called him, and the conversation went twice as bad as Dipper had thought it would. After the shouting, Luc had sighed and said "Look, I really need you to get your bony ass down here, Dollface," The nickname, which had originated due to Mabel's constant use of the word adorable around Dipper, had become common for the professor, fond despite the snarky way he usually said it, "This is bad, " Luc continued, "Like, we have a huge problem." There was muttering before the man came back on, sounding stressed, "Great, now I have to deal with my idiot brother. Dipper, if you ever try to hide from your family, move to another country, they'll always manage to find you if you don't." And with those wise parting words, the devil of a man hung up the phone. The young man rolled his eyes. _Leave it to Luc to be so cryptic about his family,_ Dipper thought as he continued his drive to the university. The halls were quiet, as it was a Saturday - who was at school on a weekend - and, as he approached the door to the doctor's lecture hall, a sense of trepidation grew. Right as he was about to open the doors and face down the dragon of a Demonology professor, the plain grey doors burst open, and a short man hurried past Dipper, shouting back in the direction of the room, "I'm not asking you to start the Apocalypse, Luci, don't be a dick, just think about it!" 

The gruff reply was immediate: "I already told you, Gabe, I absolutely refuse to babysit those morons." With those words, the honey-haired man sighted, and turning, caught sight of the paranormal investigator. As the man's mirthful, if slightly exasperated, amber eyes met his, he smirked:

"Sorry, kiddo, I might have gotten him a lot worked up, not that he isn't always. Oh, my father knows we come from a family of monumental d-bag hotheads." And with that confusing statement, the man was off, strolling down the hallway, as he talked on a phone that seemed to have materialized in his hand, well, the one that wasn't holding a Snickers bar, that was. 

"Uhm, Dr. Morningstar? Luc?" Dipper tentatively poked his head through the open door, and searched the room, finding his friend and former professor's dirty blond head slumped on his desk, resting on his hands. As Dipper spoke, the azure-eyed man looked up, his previously pensive expression hardened briefly, his mouth set into a grim line. The young man blanched, and realized that the king of Demons (or so Dipper thought), was way more stressed than he had sounded over the phone.

Luc snapped and bit out a quick 'come're' to Dipper, and the twenty-two year old hastened to comply, unwilling to further provoke his friend's ire. The professor, once Dipper was close enough, grabbed the man by the arm and dragged him to his office, where Dipper was one-hundred percent sure the man was going to methodically flay and dismember his cold, dead body. 

But, instead, Dipper was led to a large cork board with pictures and sticky notes and string all over it. Luc turned to the slightly shorter male, and motioned to the information. "This is bad." The rough statement had Dipper shocked, as the professor always had his well-formulated sentences and lack of periphrasis in what he said. 

Dipper looked at the board, seeing crime scene photos and case file notes all over it, God knows where the good doctor had gotten them. "What is it?" Confusion written across his features he looked to the man, who scratched his stubbly chin in thought, "What is this, Luc?" 

"I've been tracking murders in the area..." The statement was said slowly, as if his friend's brilliant mind was somewhere far away. "I've been looking for signs of supernatural," He paused, like he didn't want to go on. "And this," He gesticulated wildly at the cluttered board. "This is bad. Really fucking bad." The grim set of his face was back, and Dipper felt his stomach drop. Anything that upset Luc like this (besides his impatient anger, but he was a college professor, who could blame him,), was very, _very_ bad. Luc being stressed made Dipper anxious, and he didn't like it.

Adjusting his iconic hat, Dipper gave the board a once-over, "What's going on that's got you so spooked, Luc?" Out of the corner of his eye, the younger man saw the professor run a hand through his already ruffled hair, a stressed look on his face, something that made him seem far older than he actually was. 

Luc leveled Dipper with a piercing stare and said quietly. "Well, twelve kids have died in the past two months and no one but me seems to give a damn."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if it doesn't sound right, I had just finished writing the damned thing when my sister decided to reset my internet connection, and I lost all of this. Tell me if anything seems super rushed or disjointed. Thx, Redsky :3


	4. Chapter 3: Selkies and Demons, and Monsters, Oh My!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RM DSRXS WRKKVI OVZIMH Z TIVZG NZMB GSRMTH ZYLFG Z HVIRVH LU NFIWVIH. YFG: NLIV RMGVIVHGRMTOB, DSZG'H FK DRGS GSZG DVRIW ZHH TFB?

“I don’t understand.” After three hours of discussion and several (read: twelve) ignored phone calls to Luc’s cell, they were no closer to figuring out what mysterious creature caused the deaths of the children in Gravity Falls. “Why did this start now? Has whatever it is been dormant? Or what--it just got here?” The resident paranormal hunter was getting a little testy.

“I have no idea, Dollface. That’s why I called you here.” Luc sighed, “I’m working several other cases and I just started to pick up on the pattern, except, this matches nothing that’s ever happened in the States.” The Demonology professor pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, a habit formed of frustration. 

“How can you not know? This is what you study!” Dipper growled. All he wanted to do was find out how this thing was killing. 

“I study demons, Dipper. This isn’t a demon. Or a spirit, for that matter. No spirit can make something like a body disappear and leave what it leaves. Not in my experience.” He motioned to the corkboard, “Salt water?” He chuckled, “Is a Selkie killing these kids?”

Dipper paused at the mention of his real (well, his most popularly used) name. Luc rarely became angry enough to not use nicknames. The case affected him more than he had previously thought. “I don’t think a Selkie did it, no. We aren’t close enough to the ocean for that.” Dipper closed his eyes, thinking. “But,” He glanced at the notes, and then began to shuffle through police reports, before looking at the map, studying the pushpins that marked where each fight had been found. “It looks like all of the bodies were found within a half-mile radius of water. That could mean something, right?”

Luc rolled his chair over to where Dipper was, pushing him away and he looked at the police reports and the corresponding places on the map. “That’s...something to start on. We probably can’t do anything for now though.” He looked at the clock. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he had started, the heavy sound of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ rang out in the silence. His face contorted, annoyance coming back, as it did every time that particular theme played. “For the love of all that’s holy!” He shouted, leaving Dipper in shock. Luc never shouted. The devilish man picked up his phone and glared at his former student, blue eyes weary, “Get out, Dollface, I made copies of all the notes and reports for you. If you need anything, email me, this phone call might take a while.” Dipper nodded and collected the stack of notes from the cabinet the professor had pointed to. As he was about to leave the office, Luc called out, “Oh, and Dipper,” The young investigator paused, “Never ignore my calls again.” Not bothering to tell the angry doctor the truth, Dipper beat a hasty retreat, but not fast enough to hear the beginning of what he inferred to the the very long phone call his friend had referred to. 

“Really? Thirteen calls? Are you two completely useless without my assistance?”

With that, Dipper let the door fall closed behind him, thankful the King of Hell (remained unproven) was at least civil to him.

###### 

Dipper had, at Mabel’s insistence, stopped for groceries (mainly cake mixes and fruit) and was now boredly waiting at the gas station while his older than dirt car fueled up. He would later thank his lucky stars for that, as he got to overhear some teenaged idiots (had he really ever been that stupid?) talking about the other mystery haunting the small town. 

“Dude, bullshit! You did _not_ see someone in the ghost house!” One yelled, blue dyed hair falling over his eyes in some fashion that was sure to be youthful rebellion. 

“I swear I did!” The red haired girl replied, indignant. “There was some dude in the house with us, me ‘n my girl, I mean, he looked straight out of ‘The Phantom of the Opera!’ It was totally weird!”

Dipper jolted a disjointed memory passing through is memory, _“Ah, all things in time, Dipper dear…”_ It was gone seconds later, and Dipper found himself running towards the teenagers.

“Wait a second!” The teens paused, and turned to face him. 

“What’s up, guy?” The short redhead asked.

At the same time, the boy scowled and said: “I didn’t do anything, old man.”

Dipper paused to look momentarily indignant at being called old, he was only twenty-two, for Christ’s sake! “I wasn’t accusing you of anything, kid.” He turned his head to meet the girl’s green eyes. “You saw a guy in the mansion in the woods? The haunted one?” 

She stared at him. “You’re Dipper Pines, right? The mystery debunker?” Seeing his nod, she continued, “Yeah, there was a blonde dude in the house. He looked pretty pissed, and me and my girlfriend booked it out of there.”

“Did he say anything? Ya’know, something like his name or whatever?”  
“Nah, he just stormed into the front room and looked angry.” She checked over both shoulders, before leaning in, “I think he might have not known we were there. It was weird, there was a huge-ass shadow behind him. He looked normal-ish, for a guy channeling the eighteen hundreds, but his shadow had horns, and wings.” She leaned back again. “I decided to get the hell out of dodge. I wasn’t about to risk my ass and everlasting soul over a bet for twenty bucks and free pizza.”

“Oh,” Dipper looked disappointed, “so that’s all?” 

“Yeah, sorry Mister Pines, I wish I had more to give you.” She looked at her phone and jumped. “Oh no, mom’s gonna kill me, come on, Damien!” She began to run away, the taller kid - Damien, Dipper’s mind supplied - in tow. “Listen, if I remember anything else, I’ll post it on your messageboard! My username’s Nyx-the-Chaotic!”

With those final words, the girl raced around the corner, and was gone. Dipper, though disappointed, was happy he had a lead to follow on the other strange occurrence in their small burg.

###### 

The demon _roared_ , normally blue eye going a beastly red. That impudent _thing_ thought it could invade his newly claimed territory. He would teach it. No one survived the Dream King’s ire. This impudent milksop was no exception. With those final thoughts, he let his consciousness drift into the Mindscape to search out a food source, he would need it, for the plan he had brewing. _‘It takes so much effort,’_ he lamented, _‘to manifest outside of this old house.’_ But, soon, it all would be fixed, his plans were coming along quite nicely, enemy creature notwithstanding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh god i'm so sorry.
> 
> i completely reworked the plot though...
> 
> Special internet cookies (and cool fan art of the villain) if you figure out what the monster is.
> 
> oopsies on the short chapter...
> 
> Remember: I love constructive criticism, and if you catch a spelling mistake (or wouldn't mind being my beta) tell me!


	5. Interlude: Never Take Your Girlfriend to a Haunted Mansion (Lest you meet it's owner)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DLD BLF GDL, WLM'G BLF PMLD RG'H IFWV GL YIVZP RMGL HLNVLMV VOHV'H SLFHV?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Miiinnnaaaa lookie what I did lol

“Are you sure about this?” Cas whispered as the two girls snuck into the large house, glancing around as if someone was going to pop out and start yelling at them.

“No, but I’m gonna do it anyways.” Ari had always been the adventurous one, though if you were to ask an adult, it was less ‘adventure’ and more ‘foolhardy’ or ‘risky.’ She had studiously ignored such comments. 

“You’re going to get us killed, Ari, I just know it!” Cas bemoaned. She was a little more reserved, especially so now, as she wasn’t a fan of scary things. 

Despite her complaints, Cas followed Ari as she crept through the broken part of the fence that lead up to the old mansion. The moon was a sliver of ivory in the starry sky, and Cas heard her girlfriend curse and mutter something about bringing a flashlight next time. The brown-haired girl cringed at the thought of coming back to this place, even the woods that surrounded the place gave off a scarily sentient vibe. Ari, if she had noticed it, was ignoring the oppressive atmosphere as she raced up the marble steps to the old oak door.

The knocker was a gargoyle’s face, and looked to be gold, or something like it, not much was visible from the dim light of Ari’s phone’s flashlight. Taking one deep breath, the dyed redhead pushed open the large door, practically having to throw her body against it to get it to budge (though that wasn’t saying much, she stood barely a quarter of an inch over five feet, and her height did her strength no favors). Cas giggled at the image of Ari struggling with the heavy door, and the shorter girl turned to glare at her.

“You know, this might go more smoothly if you helped out a little.” She frowned, the downturn contorting her small face. “Don’t, don’t say it Liz. Don’t do this to me.”

Cas smirked childishly “...That’s what she said.” Ari growled and splayed one small hand across her face, bringing the other up to silence her taller girlfriend’s terrible jokes. 

“That was fuckboy level terrible, babe, you reminded me of Sam for a second.” Sam was the prime example of teenage white entitlement, and both of them used his behavior as a gigantic inside joke. Whenever someone would do something that was reminiscent of the dark-haired moron’s behavior or speech, this insult was thrown out, instantly ending an argument for fear of being too much like him. 

“No!” Cas whisper-shouted. “Anything but him!” She then gave up attempting to get out to the trip to the haunted mansion, and helped her girlfriend open the heavy door. 

The first thing that should have signalled something was very wrong there was that the house, though dark, was dust free. “Huh, I was expecting white sheets over all the furniture and shit. Isn’t that what the old houses usually have in them?” Ari broke the silence, her voice loud in the entry hall (not that it wasn’t always). 

“I think you watch too many horror movies, Ar, you can’t base everything off of The Others.” Cas rolled her eyes at the blue-eyed girl.

“Actually, I was thinking more about Housebound, when the main character goes into the basement and a bunch of stuff is covered in sheets and a statue of Jesus falls on her.” Cas raised an eyebrow, “Look, I’m not good at explaining it, but it was the funniest horror movie I’ve ever seen.” 

The two wandered off through the house in silence, until they heard a noise in the hallway. Cas jumped a squeak escaping her as Ari grabbed the her around the waist and pulled her into a side room, closing the door with a barely audible creak. The faint moonlight flickered in the dark room casting obscured shadows on everything they touched. 

The two listened to the walking in the hallway in silence, waiting until it began to fade. Cas opened her mouth about to speak, but before she could, Ari reached forward and dragged her by her faded band t-shirt into the shadows of the room, clasping a silencing hand over the hazel-eyed girl’s mouth as she stared hard at the door.

Hardly a second later, the door burst open, and a tall, blond man swaggered in, his face contorted in rage. Electricity crackled around him, and a single golden eye (the other obscured by an eyepatch embroidered with yellow triangle) swept the room. 

The door had swung shut after he entered, and the dim light from the moon splayed across the open space, casting a demonic shadow behind his thin figure. 

Cas’ eyes opened wide and he met the smaller girl’s eye as they both saw his impressive shadow. Horns decorated the shadow’s head, curving around his top hat, and too-small-to-fly wings were situated in his lower back, as an accent more than a useful item. 

The tall man brushed down his black suit and walked to a table beside the window, grabbing a small object from it’s surface and shoving it into his pocket. Then, energy still sparking around him, he exited the room without so much as a second look to where the girls were hiding, too busy growling at something they couldn’t see. 

Seconds passed, and when Ari deemed it had been long enough, she removed her shaking hand from Cas’ face. “I think,” She whispered, pale face made paler by fear, “that we should probably leave now.” 

Cas was equally as pale, her freckles standing out even more than normal (if Ari was in her right mind, the passing thought of how cute they were probably would have slipped out), she nodded, her face tight. “I think you might be right.” 

The trek out of the house consisted of the pair running like death was at their heels and hoping the creepy demon dude didn’t hear nor see them. Panting, the two slowed to a stop when they crossed the broken fence, where Ari bent down and gasped. “Yeah, I’m never going back there. Like, ever.” 

With a shaky nod, the taller girl pulled her red haired girlfriend to the path that lead out of the forest and the two began their walk home, nervously staring over their shoulders and out into the dark woods, looking for the dark skinned demon man with every step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's super short and kind of filler, but I feel bad because the next one might not be out for a long time.
> 
> Have a nice day my childrens :3 
> 
> The guessing game for the antagonist is still going on btw


	6. Chapter 4A: A Night Alone, Together (Maybe?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: ZOGRHRH ZACQ MLDA MS NMFDZH WVILHY WUFG'X KHRX RGSXNH. NUTRNZ SNETRJLR, C UHTH AHCF BW ELTNRK EQK MIEX MQAELRLXLUG ZBK CRB! :) IH GAMV JHUCMIU: IIFY WSHZ A XRVIQA TBVGK, DUD XVITHY GIRL XR AHY TASVA HIHLI. DSSI: JHA! DTATVGK! WOE UAMEJVNCFM GDU EHGXV GYEUZL XRV?

_It was the same dream, the gold-eyed demon noted with interest. The flames licking up the wall, the sickening smell of burning meat; everything was exactly the same. It was odd, he mused, to have such a skilled recreation of a dream for the fifth night in a row. Humans didn’t have the ability to dream things with such precision, and the ancient demon would bet his favorite suit that the dreams had been going on for far longer that what was in the realm of human possibility. He briefly pondered whether the young human could be a Dreamer, but dismissed the thought; the boy wasn’t of Arabian descent, that much Bill could see. Meanwhile, the flames reached the ceiling, and the child threw himself to the floor to protect his head and face from falling support beams._

_That left only one option. Well, if you were to get complicated with it, several, but the chances of those options were less likely than humans discovering the existence of multiple gods and the ruling hierarchy, and that was, for all intents and purposes, impossible. The remaining idea that the demon had was that there was an outside force controlling the self-proclaimed ‘ghost hunter’s sleeping world. As the King of Dreams, Cipher figured it would be easy to find the pieces of the puzzle that didn’t fit._

_One of the rules with tampering with dreams was that, no matter what, the tamperer would leave their spirit mark upon the dream somewhere. Bill’s spirit mark, his summoning wheel, would be located in some nondescript corner. He began to scan the burning room, the young human was nowhere in sight, something he thought of as odd. The mostly (sometimes, on the right Tuesday is the light shines the right way) omnipotent dream demon looked high and low for some calling card for what could possibly be invading the human’s dreams. He was just about to give up when he looked to the center of the fiery blaze, and saw something._

_Wading through the hungry flames that engulfed the room, Bill finally found the calling card he was looking for._

_In the center of all of the white-hot fire, there was a puddle of saltwater and a few stalks of seaweed._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Night fell quickly, as it always seemed to in Gravity Falls. It was, after all, a town of oddities. The sun was at its lowest point, about to disappear under the horizon, but for now (or at least the next five minutes, you never knew, in Gravity Falls), the sky was painted orange, and everything seemed to glow like fire. This was Dipper’s least favorite time of day. The young ghost hunter had gathered his hunting gear after waking up from the second fitful nap of the day. As he packed his supplies and put them on the porch he wondered when naps had gone from something that signified being a baby to something that most teenagers and young adults couldn’t go without. 

“Alright! I’m gonna leave now! Don’t expect me back before tomorrow!” Dipper shouted, booking it down the stairs to the door, grabbing his hat along the way,, and had almost made it through the threshold and to his beat-up VW bug. He had just finished slipping on his beat up sneakers and was almost out the door by the time Mabel reached the front entrance.

“Hey, bro, you’re going to the mystery house?” She paused, and then grinned, “The one that’s _haunted_ by a _hot ghost_?” She wiggled her eyebrows and laughed. “Tall, dark, and maybe evil, sounds like just your type, are you sure you’re not going there for a supernatural booty call?!”

Dipper chose to be the mature one, and, blushing furiously, stuck his tongue out at her. “You’re just jealous because I catch all the cute guys.” 

Mabel cringed, “Well, you can keep the guys, I think high school here has ruined me for every boy our age in this entire _state_!” She made a vague ‘bleh’ sound, and grinned again, and Dipper couldn’t help but notice that she looked very similar to the smiling sun on her favorite sweater. “I hope you have fun doing whatever it is that you do, out there, in the woods, _alone_ , with no one to hear you're girlish screams of terror.” The whole time she spoke, her voice grew more sinister, and then, right when Dipper was getting a little apprehensive, she shoved him out of the door and, just before slamming the door behind her, shouted “If you live to see the beautiful light of the day star, I I’ll make you Stancakes!” 

With those parting words Dipper loaded his box of gear and set out for the small dirt road that would take him to the old mansion. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once there, Dipper spent the first hour and a half combing over every room and setting up all of his gear while he waited for night to fall completely. For some reason, since he had entered the house, the sky had stayed the same orange-y color, despite the fact that it was now 11:37 P.M. Such things were uncommon, but not impossible, he supposed, so caught up in his work that any real worry couldn't catch up with him. After all, he had such an exciting new job to do. 

He, currently, was sitting in the front room, his new base of operations, staring at the screens of his laptops, monitoring the temperature of every room. As he sat there, surrounded by his favorite blanket (the fleece one with constellations on it), he started to doze off. He tried to fight it, but it seemed two naps a day hadn’t been enough to sate his tired mind. 

Right before his most recent nightmare claimed him, he swore he heard a bubbling voice whisper: _“It seems like someone has been messing with my handiwork. That just won’t do.”_ But, by the time he figured out something was wrong, it was too late to wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I'm sorry this is so short! But, as you see, it's part one. There will be more. Soon. Maybe. Idk. 
> 
> _AHHH, THE HIDEOUS LIGHT OF THE DAY STAR!_
> 
> Okay, I'm done now.


	7. Chapter 4B: Waking the Demon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yroo ollph evib mrxv rm yld grvh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't deserve anyone's love because it took me waaaayyyyyy too long to write this chapter. 
> 
> I'm so sorry

Dipper woke up in a cold sweat, crashing into reality as he fell out of his chair and hit the ground, still able to feel the searing heat and the acrid smell of smoke. Panting, he looked around wildly, searching for flames and broken bodies. He found none, and relaxed minutely, running a shaking hand through his hair as he tried to calm his racing heart. He downed the last little bit of the coffee in his thermos and sighed. Without caffeine to keep him awake, there was no way he’d be able to stay up long enough to finish the night stakeout.

He looked around the room, and noticed that the sky had finally turned dark, and checking the time, realized that he had only been asleep for an hour. He got to his feet slowly, a blanket falling to the floor. Dipper stared at it, confused. He hadn’t brought a blanket with him, and he certainly hadn’t grabbed one before he fell asleep. He leaned down and grabbed it, feeling the soft material, a little spooked by its appearance. 

Feeling a little like he was in a horror movie, he looked to all the dark shadows in the room, fear ratcheting up a level when he saw that a small fire was now burning him the previously empty grate. “Is-is anyone there?” There was no response, and he shook his head, feeling silly. “Yeah, Dipper, because the crazy-scary ghost and-or serial killer would totally come out and say ‘Yep, I’m right here, intended victim!’ and lose the element of surprise.” 

He dropped his shoulders, and gave up on the search, seeing nothing in the room, not that there was much light to see by, and went back to the computer monitors, seeing that all of the temperatures seemed normal, and nothing was out of place. That was, until he realized that camera number three’s visual was out. 

Muttering a curse, he grabbed a flashlight and a replacement camera and headed out of the entrance hall, heading up a surprisingly sturdy set of stairs and reaching the second-floor landing, looking past the ornate furniture for the door that led into a large set of bedchambers. Dipper had assumed that they had been the old master of the house’s, and had set up more cameras in there than in other places, as experience had taught him that they often stayed attached to their rooms, for some reason or another. 

He reached the closed door, and stopped again, hand on the doorknob. He hadn’t remembered closing the door, but quickly wrote it off. It was an old house, a draft could have easily shut the door. With that, he swung the door open, looking for any sign that someone could be in the rooms.

There was no one visible to the human eye, so Dipper walked in, only to be hit by a blast of cold air. He swung around, and was looking at a balcony, the doors flung open wide, dark velvet curtains billowing out like bat’s wings. Shaking off his fear again, he stepped out onto the balcony, looking out at the woods, the inky, stygian darkness giving him a soul-deep feeling of unease, and he turned, ready to head back in and away from the forest, but stopped dead when he saw a flash of blond hair and dark clothing. 

He raced back into the house, looking for the person he could have sworn he had just seen, but found nothing. He checked the rest of the room, looking behind all of the furniture and curtains, but found nothing. Shaking his head and chalking it up to exhaustion, he went to replace the camera’s batteries, only to find that they weren’t dead. They were completely missing. Dipper ran his hand over his face in disbelief. He did a once over of the room again, now looking for his magical disappearing batteries. He found them sitting in one of the drawers in the nightstand next to the bed. Replacing the previously AWOL batteries, he made sure the power light came back on and let out a weary sigh. Sometimes he wished spirits would be upfront with him. Playing hide-and-seek was far from his favorite thing to do. 

He had just reached the bottom of the stairs that returned him to the main room when all of his lights blinked, and he was plunged into darkness. Even the flashlight in his hand went out. None of it made sense to Dipper, seeing as all of his lights were battery-powered. He stood stock-still at the base of the stairs, not moving for fear of tripping. In front of him, he could hear the almost impossibly light sound of footsteps and rustling.

Almost as soon as it began, it was over, and Dipper rushed back to the computers to check his cameras and equipment. He moved his thermos out of the way, freezing when he heard the slosh of liquid inside of it. He had finished off the last of his coffee before he had gone upstairs, but it sounded like his thermos was totally full. He unscrewed the top and looked at the steaming hot liquid in astonishment. The smell told him that it was definitely coffee, but he had no idea where it had come from. He scrutinized the rest of the room, and found the blanket folded neatly, sitting on some of the unused space on his field table. 

“Huh,” Dipper muttered, “I’ve never seen a spirit think about anyone else before.” Shaking his head, he got back to work, checking the other cameras in the master room, hoping to see the being he thought he had seen on the balcony. Unsurprisingly, there was nothing there. There had also been no temperature drops in any of the rooms, despite the paranormal activity. 

That meant whatever it was wasn’t a ghost. Dipper collapsed back into the chair, staring at the vaulted ceilings. If it wasn’t a ghost, it could literally be anything else. The ability to hide from cameras was a common ability, so it didn’t narrow down the search list at all. It would take a lot of work to even  _ create _ a list of things that it could be, much less even begin to narrow it down. He felt exhausted at the  _ thought _ of all of the time it would take. 

Dipper grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders to ward off the chill. At some point during the previous fiasco, the fire had gone out, and the cold was seeping back into the room. 

Standing up, Dipper walked over to the fireplace, looking for any way to relight the fire, but there was nothing besides the half-burnt logs in the grate. He shrugged and walked back to monitor the cameras again. 

Hours passed and Dipper could already feel his neck aching. It was pushing three in the morning and there was still nothing major to report since the incident with the coffee. He was about to give up and call it a night when he realized that it felt like he wasn’t alone. He vaulted out of his seat, frantically searching the room, hoping to catch a glance of the being that had been following him around. Once again, he was greeted with nothing. He laughed despairingly, knowing that Mabel would call him crazy when she heard about how paranoid he was being. He turned around and was about to walk back to his chair, but froze.

There was already someone sitting in it. 

“You know, courtesy says that you thank someone when they do something for you.” Dipper could have sworn he jumped a foot in the air when the being spoke. He stared, wide-eyed and slack-jawed at humanoid sitting in front of him. “What’s wrong, Pine Tree, ghost got your tongue?” 

Dipper took a could of deep breaths, trying to will away the man sitting in the chair. However, he had no such luck, and he remained, his one-eyed visage boring into Dipper’s skull. “Can I help you?” He asked, sarcasm bleeding into his voice. It occurred to him afterward that sarcasm wasn’t the best thing to use against something so powerful. 

“Why, yes, there are a lot of things you could help me with, but I highly doubt ritual sacrifice is on your to-do list!” The man laughed, and Dipper caught sight of slightly pointed teeth. Cooling his panic, Dipper focused on the being. For all intents and purposes, he looked human enough. A single golden eye cast its glow on the rest of his dark-skinned face, illuminating his black and blonde hair. His clothes were old, yeah, but weren’t out of place in the setting. Other than his eye and his disappearing acts, he could have been a regular guy. 

“Yeah, there’s a definite ‘no’ on that. Uh, who are you?” Dipper was excited by the mystery being’s sudden presence, but wary of the possible trouble he could cause. 

“You don’t remember me, Pine Tree? I find that hard to believe, seeing as we met rather recently.” The man was smirking arrogantly, and Dipper felt a rush of familiarity, but he couldn’t recall where it had come from. 

“I have no idea who you are...or  _ what _ you are.” He backpedaled when the being shifted to stand right in front of him. But he only held out a hand expectantly, the grin still firmly on his face. Still hesitant, Dipper clasped his hand in the man’s in a brief handshake. 

The man returned the handshake happily. “I already like you more than before, now that you’re being less rude.” He managed to wink, despite being missing an eye. “Bill Cipher, at your service. And of course, I know who you are. Dipper Pines ghost hunter extraordinaire.” He moved past Dipper gliding towards the fireplace, which was lit with glowing blue flames. “Please have a seat, I insist.” As he was speaking, he summoned two armchairs, and sat down in one, crossing his legs neatly. He motioned to the other and Dipper sighed, walking forwards to take a seat in the other. 

There was a moment of silence, before Bill leaned forward, resting his clasped hands on his cane. “Listen, kid, let’s get down to business. I need some… assistance and I think you might be the right man for the job.”

Dipper stared at Bill in disbelief. “How am  _ I  _ the right person for whatever plan you have? I’m not taking part in ritual sacrifice!” 

“And I don’t want you to. Geez, Pine Tree, don’t you know a joke when you see one?” Bill rolled his eyes and looked to the fire, a blue glow cast on his face. “I have a problem, and seeing as you don't run screaming at the first appearance of danger, you’re my best bet.” 

“What type of problem?” 

“I’m glad you asked, as I’m sure you’ve noticed it as well. A monster seems to have found its way into this area. You can tell by the sheer amount of dead children it leaves in it’s wake.” Bill sighed dramatically. “And therein our problem lies. This is my territory. I’m rather possessive of it. Having this creature here is bad for business. Less children means less dreams to feed off of. Which is rather problematic seeing as I happen to be a being that feeds off of dreams.” 

Dipper narrowed down the list of possible creatures in his mind and asked, “So what exactly are you, Cipher?” 

Bill smirked again, seeming more arrogant than before. “Well, I think that’s obvious.” Ignoring the human’s comment that it was definitely not obvious, he continued. “ _ I  _ am an incubus. A dream demon, of sorts.” 

Dipper cocked his head to the side, confused. “I thought incubi fed off of, you know,  _ sex. _ ” He blushed fairly heavily as the incubus laughed. 

“Well, yes. But mostly we feed off of emotion, which, being the creatures of dreams that we are, we can get from many other places.” He grinned at Dipper, “No need to be shy anyway, we’re all adults here. Besides, I prefer keeping as far away from humans as possible. I mainly feed off of dreams and imagination. But that’s the problem. I’ve spent too long in a dream form, and I’m having a hard time focusing my energies long enough to manifest outside of this old house. That’s where you come in.” 

“I come in and do what, exactly?” Dipper asked, wary of what the demon could possibly propose.

“If I could bind my energy to another being, I would be free to explore this little backwoods town for the crazy little critter that seems to have gotten loose.” Bill leered at Dipper. “You would be a great help in making this plan come into action.” 

Dipper paused, staring at the demon, “So what, you want to possess me or something? Because that’s definitely not going to happen.” 

Bill laughed, sounding just that side of sane, “No, Pine Tree, that’s  _ way _ too much work. I just want to hitch a ride, there’d be almost no effects whatsoever. I’d just have to stay close to you for a little bit.” 

“No way!” Dipper shouted. The last thing he wanted to do was have some demon following him around  _ everywhere _ , especially one as annoying as Bill. 

“Really? You’d say that even if it meant stopping a creature that’s killing this town’s children?” Bill’s face had become serious, his voice grim. 

Dipper froze, unsure of what to say. “Well, there has to be another way. One that doesn’t involve you moving in, preferably.” 

“Well, yes, there is. But that could take weeks. These children don’t have weeks.” Bill met Dipper’s eyes. “Think about it, the children could be saved, you’d be the hero of this rinky dink town. You’d really risk children’s lives because you’re incapable of sharing living space?”

Dipper thought about it. Bill was right, they didn’t have weeks to wait. And maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have a demonic roommate around to help. “...Fine. But if you start causing trouble, I’m kicking you to the curb.” 

Bill smiled triumphantly, “Swell! So, we have a deal then?” He held out his hand which was now lit with the same blue flame as the fire. “Let’s shake on it then, to make it more official.” 

  
Dipper stared warily at the hand, but there were really no better options for him to take. “Alright then,” he said, and reached forward to take the demon’s hand. 


End file.
